Four Sisters And A Pony Express Rider
by Wendymypooh
Summary: On the way back to Sweetwater, Kid runs into four sisters in need of his assistance. Co written by Catsimmie. Set in the Sweetwater Tales AU.


**This story is co-written by Catsimmie. You can send her feedback at Jennifer **

**Gillian Florian rode ahead of the family wagon, her eyes vigilant on the vast prairie surrounding her. A flowing carpet of greenery, dotted with vibrant pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue, and red wildflowers, stretched out as far as the eye could see. A distant mountain range rose in hues of warm browns and creamy tans so that their white peaks touched the cerulean sky overhead. **

**The beauty of the scenery was lost on Gillian, as she constantly scanned it for signs of movement, which would indicate a possible threat to her and her three sisters. After the disturbing event of the evening before, she wasn't about to relax her guard, and let anyone sneak up on them again. **

**An involuntary shudder swept over her as she recalled the terror filled moments of the night before. She and her sisters had camped outside a small settlement and fallen into an exhausted sleep the moment they laid down. Their restful night was taken from them when a drunken intruder invaded their campsite with devious intentions. **

**Her eldest sister, Susannah, was awakened by the stranger's grubby hands pawing at her nightgown. It was Susannah's frightened screams that had awakened Gillian and her other sisters, Devanee and Nandria. **

**She had gone for her gun, while Devanee launched herself at the man assaulting Susannah. Their younger sister, Nandria, had frozen in her blankets, her wide green eyes, riveted on her two older sisters wrestling with the intruder She remembered firing a warning shot before leveling the gun at the man and ordering him to get away from Susannah. The man had pleaded with her not to do anything rash. It had taken her some restraint to keep from squeezing the trigger and killing him. Susannah had insisted she and Devanee take the man into town to the marshal's office, while she and Nandria packed up their campsite. **

**Several hours had passed since then without any trouble, but Gillian found it difficult to relax. Her gut told her that the man would come after them as soon as he was freed from jail. She would feel better once they got to the relative safety of another town. She was dead tired and would welcome going to bed early to make up for the sleep neither she nor her sisters had gotten the evening before. **

**The sharp crack of gunfire startled her out of her reverie. Her right hand went for her Colt, as she wheeled Star Fire around, her eyes searching the area as she tried to locate where the gunshots had originated. **

**Her heart ran cold as she spotted four riders coming up fast behind their wagon. She watched as Devanee brought Thunder Cloud and Lightning Bolt to an abrupt halt, and realized her older sisters had decided to make a stand against the rapidly approaching riders, instead of trying to outrun them. Gillian agreed with them that it was probably the best way for them to defend themselves against their attackers. **

**More gunshots rang out as Gillian brought Star Fire to an abrupt halt beside the wagon. Gillian let out a cry as white hot pain sliced through her left arm. She slid off the roan's back, hastily tying the horse's reins to the wagon, before scrambling under the wagon beside Devanee. **

**Gillian took in Devanee's fierce expression as her older sister lifted her rifle to her shoulder. She heard Susannah directing Nandria to be ready to reload their rifles after firing her first shot. As she readied her own weapon, Gillian prayed nothing happened to her sisters. **

**"Get ready," Devanee called out, "here they come." **

**Gillian felt shock flood over her as she caught sight of the man leading the group. It was the drunkard who had assaulted Susannah the night before. A grim smile curved her lips as she took aim and fired. Her shot missed and she swore. For once Susannah did not reprimand her. They had bigger things to worry about than her swearing. **

**Kid was returning to Sweetwater from an overnight run to Rock Creek, when he heard the sharp report of gunfire. Turning Katie in the direction the shots came from, horse and rider cleared a low hill in time to see four riders circling a solitary wagon. The men were alternately firing their weapons in the air, swatting the team of chestnuts on their rumps, shaking the wagon frame, and calling out lewd comments to one another. **

**As Kid urged Katie into motion down the hill, he heard the bark of a rifle, and saw one of the men topple off his horse. The riders' instantly sobered, realizing the occupants of the wagon were more of a threat than the men had thought. **

**"What's going on here?" Kid called out as he neared the wagon, his gun at the ready, in case he needed it. **

**"This doesn't concern you, Sonny," one of the men called back. **

**"I'll be the judge of what concerns me or not," Kid retorted, tensing as a pox faced man wheeled his horse around to confront him. **

**Kid ducked the shot the man fired at him, firing back, and watched with grim satisfaction as the man hit the ground. He turned Katie sharply around the team of chestnuts, to avoid being shot by one of the other men, and nearly ran her into a roan mare tied to the other side of the wagon. He brought Katie to a quick halt, sliding off her back, and took up a position behind one of the wheels, as the last two men realized they had gained another adversary. **

**Kid spared a glance underneath the wagon and felt shock sweep through him as he identified all four of its occupants as female. There was no time to ponder on that as the last two men opened fire again, and his attention was diverted elsewhere. He took out one of the men, the other realizing he was outnumbered, galloped away on his horse. **

**Kid holstered his gun and crouched down so he could see the women huddled under the wagon. He could not remember the last time he has seen such lovely women in close quarters. One had warm brown skin and tightly weaved curls that framed her flawless face. The woman beside her had porcelain skin and golden hair pulled back in a severe bun that did not detract anything from her exquisite features, but enhanced them. **

**Strawberry blond hair framed the pretty, youthful face of the girls next to her. His eyes locked gazes with the last female, who was in closest proximity to his position. She had vibrant red hair and a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose. All four women had high cheekbones, narrow noses, and striking green eyes that marked them as siblings. **

**Kid found it difficult to draws his gaze away from the redhead. Her eyes sparkled like spring grass after a recent rain and he had always been partial to freckles. Aware that all four women were gazing at him with varying degrees of emotions, finally brought him to his senses. **

**"Ladies, I think it is safe for you to come out from under there now. The danger has passed." **

**The Florian sisters huddled under their wagon making their shots count as they fought against their assailants. Dread had flooded over the sisters when another rider had ridden up on their location. They feared he was an acquaintance of the men attacking them, but he soon assuaged their fears by turning out to be an ally instead. **

**Gillian kept her Colt at the ready; as their helped crouched down to address them. She felt her breath leave her as she came face to face with him. He was handsome with curly chestnut hair, chiseled features, and eyes the color of a clear summer sky. She did not know why, but she felt she could trust him. She slowly eased her finger off the trigger and holstered it. **

**'Thank you for helping us," She told him. **

**"I was happy to help," Kid replied, "Are any of you hurt?" **

**Susannah, Devanee, and Nandria quickly assured him they weren't, as they crawled out from under the wagon. **

**It wasn't until Gillian tried to use her left arm to crawl out from under the wagon, and felt a throbbing ache run through it from shoulder to wrist, that she remembered feeling something strike her as she had climbed off Star Fire's back earlier. Now, white hot pain joined the throbbing sensation and the realized there was something thick and sticky dripping down her arm and onto her hand. She glanced down and saw that it was blood. **

**"I've been shot," her voice held surprise in it as she felt her legs start to buckle. **

**'What?" Her sisters exclaimed in alarm. **

**Gillian felt herself begin to fall, only to have strong arms catch her, and ease her into a sitting position onto the ground. She leaned gratefully back against the wagon wheel as her rescuer crouched down in front of her. **

**"You best let me take a look at that," Kid suggested and didn't wait for the redhead to reply, before he was tearing the torn and bloodied cotton so he could study the wound beneath it. He was relieved to find a two inch rivulet where a bullet had grazed her am, instead of making itself at home in her smooth flesh, "It doesn't look too bad." **

**"I'll have to take your word for it," Gillian muttered. **

**Kid grinned at her. He admired her spunk. Even thought the wound was only a graze, he knew how painful being shot was, and he could tell she was determined not to make a fuss about it. **

**"If you'll move aside, I'll tend to my sister's wound," Susannah ordered, taking charge of the situation. **

**She kneeled down beside Kid with the satchel of medical supplies Devanee had retrieved from inside the wagon. **

**"No, Sanna, let him tend to it," Gillian objected not wanting Susannah to fuss over her. She locked gazes with the young man crouched before her, "Will you?"**

**"Alright," Kid agreed, "I'm going to need something to clean the wound and then bandage it." **

**"We should have everything you need in here," Susannah opened the satchel and extracted bandages and a small bottle of whiskey from within it.**

**Kid picked up the bottle of whiskey and used his teeth to uncork it, "This is going to hurt." **

**"Just do it," Gillian said. **

**Kid tilted the bottle and watched the amber liquid spill out of it onto the young woman's wound. To her credit, she didn't scream or move, but bravely fought against the excruciating pain she was experiencing. He glanced at her face as he worked, in time to see a solitary tear run down her cheek. He winced, hating that he was hurting her, but knew there was nothing to prevent it. All he could do was finish tending to her wound as quickly as possible. **

**"It's going to be sore for a few days. Make sure to clean it out and change the bandages once a day to prevent infection, and it should heal up nicely," Kid tied the ends of the bandage together as he talked. **

**"Thank you," Gillian said, "For patching me up and helping us fight off those no good, filthy mouth mongrels." **

**"You're welcome," Kid smiled at her, earning a grin from her in return. **

**"Now that Gillian's injury has been tended to, we need to decide what we're going to do with those men's bodies," Devanee said. **

**"We can take them to Sweetwater," Kid suggested, "I know the marshal there. Once we explain what happened to him, he'll take care of them." **

**"I hope he's a better marshal than the last one we dealt with," Gillian stated sarcastically. **

**"Gillian!" Susannah hissed, "All lawmen are not like the one in the last town." **

**"Well you couldn't fool me by the way some of the 'others' kindly shoved us out of their 'towns' almost as soon as we arrived," Gillian spat out, rising to her feet and stomping over to the leader of the four men. She nudged his leg with the toe of her boot, "The last one was the worse. He let this scum loose after we told him about him sneaking into our camp last night and trying to-," **

**"Gillian!" Devanee and Susannah exclaimed together. **

**Gillian glared at her older sisters in turn before turning her attention back to the stranger who had helped them, "He was up to no good." **

**Kid didn't need to know anymore information. He that whatever the dead man had done was something none of the women wanted to talk about. He also understood her reluctance to trust another marshal. **

**"Marshal Cain is as honest as they come. You can trust him to do the right thing." **

**"Guess we'll have to take your word for it, Mr…"Susannah said. **

**"Most folks just call me Kid," He told her, "I'm a Pony Express rider." **

**"Kid, I like it." Gillian smiled at him, "I'm Gillian, in case you haven't already figured that out by all the shouting." **

**Kid grinned. **

**"And these are my sisters, Susannah, Devanee, and Nandria." Gillian added. **

**"Ladies, it's nice to meet you all," Kid smiled at each woman in turn.**

**"We're indebted to you for the help you've given us," Devanee said. **

**"I'm glad I was able to help. If you all are willing, I'll accompany you into Sweetwater and help you explain things to Marshal Cain." **

**Susannah and Devanee exchanged a look before the eldest Florian. Spoke, "We accept your offer to escort us to Sweetwater." **

**Working together, Kid and the Florian sisters rounded up the dead men's horses, and loaded the bodies onto them. Nandria, Devanee, and Susannah climbed into the wagon while Kid and Gillian mounted their horses. **

**"Is everyone ready to go?" Kid asked. **

**"I am," Gillian rode up beside him on Star Fire. **

**"So are we," Devanee called out from her place on the wagon seat beside Susannah. **

**"Let's ride then," Kid nudged Katie into a trot **

**Gillian, on Star Fire, paced beside him and Katie, while Devanee set Thunder Cloud and Lightning Bolt into motion behind them. As they headed toward Sweetwater, Gillian couldn't help hoping that it was going to be the place where they could finally settle down. **


End file.
